Adsorption Studies of Radionuclides and Toxic Metal Ions on a Modified Mesoporous Lanthanum(III) Silicate

A new adsorbent, modified mesoporous lanthanum(III) silicate, has been prepared with various molar ratios of Si/La (10, 20, 40, 80) and cethyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as structure directing agent. XRD, nitrogen sorption, SEM, IR, thermogravimetry and sorption of radionuclides and toxic metal ions have been studied. The results show that adsorption amount of some element such as Pb(II) and Th(IV) has been increased significantly by incorporation of lanthanum ions in the framework of adsorbent. Separation of Co(II)‐Th(IV), Co(II)‐U(VI) and Mo(VI)‐U(VI) has been developed on columns of this adsorbent.     

Oral feeding of pomegranate fruit extract inhibits early biomarkers of UVB radiation-induced carcinogenesis in SKH-1 hairless mouse epidermis

Pomegranate from the plant Punica granatum L. possesses strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Recently, we have demonstrated that treatment of normal human epidermal keratinocytes with pomegranate fruit extract (PFE) inhibited UVB-mediated activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and mitogen activated protein kinases pathways. Here, we evaluated the effect of PFE on early biomarkers of photocarcinogenesis employing SKH-1 hairless mice. PFE was provided in drinking water (0.2%, wt/vol) to SKH-1 hairless mice for 14 days before a single UVB (180 mJ cm⁻²) irradiation. We found that oral feeding of PFE inhibited UVB-induced: (1) skin edema; (2) hyperplasia; (3) infiltration of leukocytes; (4) lipid peroxidation; (5) hydrogen peroxide generation; (6) ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity; and (7) ODC, cyclooxygenase-2 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen protein expression. Oral feeding of PFE enhanced repair of UVB-mediated formation of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) and 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG). Importantly, PFE treatment further enhanced UVB-mediated increase in tumor suppressor p53 and cyclin kinase inhibitor p21. Furthermore, oral feeding of PFE inhibited UVB-mediated: (1) nuclear translocation of NF-κB; (2) activation of IKKα; and (3) phosphorylation and degradation of IκBα. Taken together, we provide evidence that oral feeding of PFE to mice affords substantial protection from the adverse effects of UVB radiation via modulation in early biomarkers of photocarcinogenesis and provide suggestion for its photochemopreventive potential.     

Modification of tricine–SDS–PAGE for online and offline analysis of phosphoproteins by ICP-MS

This study describes a modification to tricine sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to make it more effective for the separation of low molecular mass proteins and for coupling with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The modified method employs low-percentage polyacrylamide gels (7–10%) (w/v) and low reagent concentrations that provide efficient separations, good quantitation and low matrix levels that are compatible with ICP-MS. Using phosphopeptides as a model system, and offline analysis, we obtained recoveries of 73% (w/v) in a 9% gel compared with 55% in a conventional 16% gel. Online coupling was achieved by modification of a standard commercially available gel electroelution apparatus and casting of the gel into a 7.3-cm-long tube. Online separation of a digest of β-casein was demonstrated with recovery of the mono- and tetraphosphopeptides, which were identified by comparison with peptide standards. A mass balance study with the standards yielded recoveries of 95% for tetraphosphopeptides and 48% for monophosphopeptides. The factors affecting the separations and recoveries are discussed in detail. The detection limits for 10-μL samples of the mono- and tetraphosphopeptides were 0.7 μM (7 pmol) and 0.2 μM (2 pmol) respectively.     

Simple gas chromatographic method for the quantification of total cholesterol in fish meats

Six fish species-Cirrhinus mrigala (Morakhi), Labeo rohita (Danbhro), Catla catla (Thalli), Wallago attu (Jarko), Ctenopharyngodon idella (Grass), and Cyprimus carpio (Gulfam)--commonly found in the Pakistani Indus river, were selected for fat and cholesterol evaluation. Fat content was quantified by the Folch method and cholesterol content was determined by a simple GC method. The application of the proposed method to quantify cholesterol content revealed variations among the six breeds evaluated. The breeds studied contained 0.80-1.95% fat, indicating that all investigated fishes were lean; significant variation was found in cholesterol content, and ranged between 72 and 392 mg/100 g. Standard addition analyses showed that the method was accurate, as the recovery of cholesterol varied from 95 to 103%, with a coefficient of variance not more than 5.6%. The results showed that, after the development of suitable calibration, within 11 min, the cholesterol could be accurately determined by GC.     

Ionic studies of sodium alginate isolated from Sargassum terrarium (brown algea) karachi coast with 2,1-electrolyte

Physical and chemical analysis of the polysaccharide isolated from Sargassum Terarrium (brown algae) of Karachi coast showed characteristics of the sodium alginate. Optical rotations and sulphated ash content were found and FTIR spectra showed a sharp and strong absorption band at 1600 cm^?1 representing carboxylate ion which conforms high uronic acid content of the product. The viscosities of aqueous 0.1% sodium alginate solution were measured in the presence of copper II chloride (CuCl₂). The viscosities were found to be increased with the increase in the concentration of electrolyte. Viscosities were also found affected with temperature. ‘A’ and ‘B’ coefficients of Jones–Dole equation were evaluated. The increase in positive values of ‘B’ coefficient with the rise of temperature led to conclusion that given electrolyte in 0.1% aqueous sodium alginate solution behaves as structure maker. Thermodynamic parameters regarding to activated state like energy of activation E_η, change in free energy of activation ΔG_η and change of entropy of activation ΔS_η were also evaluated. Straight-line plots of log η versus 1/T observed with positive slopes show the effect of temperature on the viscosities of solutions. Energy of activation (E_η) was found to be decreased with the rise of temperature. Change in free energy of activation (ΔG_η) was also found to be increased with increase in concentrations of electrolyte and also with rise of temperature. The values of change in entropy of activation (ΔS_η) were also calculated. Negative values of ΔS_η were found to be increased with increase in concentration of electrolyte and also with rise of temperature.     

Influence of substrate temperature on the properties of electron beam evaporated ZnSe films

ZnSe films were deposited on glass substrates keeping the substrate temperatures, at room temperature (RT), 75, 150 and 250 °C. The films have exhibited cubic structure oriented along the (111) direction. Both the crystallinity and the grain size increased with increasing deposition temperature. A very high value of absorption co‐efficient (10⁴ cm^‐1) is observed. The band gap values decrease from a value of 2.94 eV to 2.69 eV with increasing substrate temperature. The average refractive index value is in the range of 2.39 – 2.41 for the films deposited at different substrate temperatures. The conductivity values increases continuously with temperature. Laser Raman spectra showed peaks at 140.8 cm^‐1, 246.7 cm^‐1and 204.5 cm^‐1which are attributable to 2TA LO phonon and TO phonon respectively. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Solution to the MHD flow over a non-linear stretching sheet by homotopy perturbation method

In this study,by means of homotopy perturbation method(HPM) an approximate solution of the magnetohydrodynamic(MHD) boundary layer flow is obtained.The main feature of the HPM is that it deforms a difficult problem into a set of problems which are easier to solve.HPM produces analytical expressions for the solution to nonlinear differential equations.The obtained analytic solution is in the form of an infinite power series.In this work,the analytical solution obtained by using only two terms from HPM soluti...     

Living fungal hyphae-templated porous gold microwires using nanoparticles as building blocks

Abstract  

A simple and environmentally benign green method is reported to decorate growing fungal hyphae with high loading of gold nanoparticles, which were initially produced using aqueous tea extract as a sole reducing/stabilizing agent. Inoculation of fungal spores in aqueous suspension of nanoparticles led to the growth of intensely red-coloured fungal hyphae due to the accumulation of gold nanoparticles. Heat treatment of these hybrid materials led to the formation of porous gold microwires. This report is thus an interesting example of using green and sustainable approach to produce nanostructured materials which have potential applications in catalysis, sensing and electronics.     

Evolution of Zn based high purity phases under NH3 gas atmosphere and their PL properties

We report here the evolution of zinc based high purity phases with novel morphologies such as Zn₃N₂ hollow structures, ZnO nanowires and nanopowders, as well as metallic Zn layered hexagonal microparticles at progressively increased reaction temperature of 600 °C, 700 °C, 800 °C under NH₃ gas atmosphere using Zn powder precursor and keeping all other experimental parameters unchanged. Growth mechanism for Zn₃N₂ obtained by nitridation, ZnO by oxidation and Zn microparticles via thermal evaporation & condensation process are discussed briefly. The as-synthesized products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Photoluminescence (PL) studies have revealed very interesting and infrequently observed emission bands at 378 and 661 nm for Zn₃N₂, 359 and 396 nm for ZnO as well as 389 nm for Zn polyhedral microparticles.